Terraforming Mars
Mars was probably hit by a Pluto-sized meteor in the northern hemisphere about 4 billion years ago. It really walloped the planet stripping off its atmosphere and knocking back the rapid spin of the inner core which ended the planetary dynamo generating the protective magnetic field (magnetosphere). If we want to try some creative geoengineering this is one of the first places we should look at. I am not a scientist and these are my current layperson opinions only.
The northern hemisphere of Mars has the least severe weather. We might be able to place a few extreme experimental stations there by tunneling into the south side of small hills. If we strengthened the cave walls with reinforced concrete and put a strong framed three layer glass window wall on the south opening we could pump up the inside environment to maybe one-half atmosphere pressure (about 8 psi) and keep it at 60 degrees Fahrenheit so you could walk around inside without a space suit. When the carbon dioxide dry ice at the poles melts in the northern summer the winds come howling down from the pole at 250 mph. So it is important that the tunnel window wall not be facing into the blast.
For permanent terraforming of the planet we will have to rev up the rotation of the inner core of molten metals somehow to restart the planetary dynamo. That will reestablish the magnetosphere and repel the radioactive cosmic rays and the solar winds that come streaming in from outer space. Then the natural atmosphere can start to rebuild and insulate the distant planet without getting ionized and swept out into space. With a protective atmosphere my wild guess is that Mars' total average temperature will rise from -80 degrees Fahrenheit to maybe 0 degrees and the mid-northern latitude region's summer temperature could cycle from 45 degrees at night to 80 at mid-day. The final challenge would be to try growing food outdoors during the short growing season cheaply enough to make the planet habitable.
Mars will provide a good tough laboratory to experiment on for Earth's scientists but for the teaming masses the real distant goal is to stretch out into space with antigravity propulsion and find hospitable planets that have inviting weather conditions like Earth's.
The northern hemisphere of Mars has the least severe weather. We might be able to place a few extreme experimental stations there by tunneling into the south side of small hills. If we strengthened the cave walls with reinforced concrete and put a strong framed three layer glass window wall on the south opening we could pump up the inside environment to maybe one-half atmosphere pressure (about 8 psi) and keep it at 60 degrees Fahrenheit so you could walk around inside without a space suit. When the carbon dioxide dry ice at the poles melts in the northern summer the winds come howling down from the pole at 250 mph. So it is important that the tunnel window wall not be facing into the blast.
For permanent terraforming of the planet we will have to rev up the rotation of the inner core of molten metals somehow to restart the planetary dynamo. That will reestablish the magnetosphere and repel the radioactive cosmic rays and the solar winds that come streaming in from outer space. Then the natural atmosphere can start to rebuild and insulate the distant planet without getting ionized and swept out into space. With a protective atmosphere my wild guess is that Mars' total average temperature will rise from -80 degrees Fahrenheit to maybe 0 degrees and the mid-northern latitude region's summer temperature could cycle from 45 degrees at night to 80 at mid-day. The final challenge would be to try growing food outdoors during the short growing season cheaply enough to make the planet habitable.
Mars will provide a good tough laboratory to experiment on for Earth's scientists but for the teaming masses the real distant goal is to stretch out into space with antigravity propulsion and find hospitable planets that have inviting weather conditions like Earth's.
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